


A Christmas to Remember

by raleighpuppy



Series: All the Best Things Come in Threes [1]
Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Agender Character, Asexual Character, Christmas, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-26
Updated: 2014-11-26
Packaged: 2018-02-26 14:20:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2655188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raleighpuppy/pseuds/raleighpuppy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Christmas was a big deal in the Becket household, but Raleigh hasn't celebrated Christmas since Yancy died. Mako and Chuck take it upon themselves to make the perfect Christmas for Raleigh.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Christmas to Remember

Raleigh feels two sensations in his chest towards the beginning of December. One: the pleasure of making it nearly six months post-Pitfall in a little apartment with Mako and Chuck, and Two: a deep, lingering sadness because Yancy loved Christmas and he hasn't celebrated Christmas since Knifehead. While the feeling of pride in self-preservation dominates and creates a warm fuzziness in his chest, a fuzziness he hasn't felt quite this strongly in quite some time, a sharp nip of sadness comes in waves, sometimes light and lapping at him and sometimes pushing him under and drowning him.

One day, while half-drowned, he forlornly stares at the neighbor's bright white Christmas lights. The gleam of the lights catches on his tears which refuse to spill out of his eyes.

Mako, from the couch where she sits with a good book in zir hands and a sleepy Chuck's head in zir lap, can't help but noticing the glint and a tightness begins in zir chest, like something coiling.

"Raleigh," ze softly calls. "Are you alright?"

The blond nods, but Mako calls him over anyway, and he listens. Silently, he drops on the couch so he's lying down next to zir, his head in zirs lap as well. With a sweet little smile, ze leans over and presses a soft kiss to Raleigh's forehead, and then runs a hand through his hair. _My boys_ , ze thinks.

"I was lookin' at the neighbor's lights," Raleigh begins.

And Mako is glad zir plan worked. Usually, ze realized some time ago, not too long after their first drift, all it takes to get something out of Raleigh is to call him over and sit for a minute because the silence will make him uncomfortable, and he talks and talks and talks to fill it.

He takes a deep breath before continuing. "And I noticed all their Christmas lights. Yance really loved Christmas a lot. As kids, we'd run down the stairs real early on Christmas morning. When Jaz was born, she joined us. I haven't celebrated a single Christmas since Knifehead." His voice waivers. "But I was thinking that the kaiju are gone and-- and maybe we could, I dunno, put up some lights, but that's usually Yance's job and... I dunno. He's just not here for Christmas."

Mako bits zir lip; considers how to respond, when ze hears Chuck speak.

"Max was a Christmas present," he says.

"Really?" Raleigh asks.

"Yeah, from m' dad," he adds. "Max was the runt of the litter. He was a real tiny pile of wrinkles an' I didn't know what to do with 'im 'cause he was so tiny. He wouldn't eat, also 'cause the person lied to Dad 'bout how old Max was-- he really still needed his mum-- an' we had to feed him with a little water dropper."

"It'll be your first Christmas without your dad," Raleigh blurts. He looks over at Mako. "And yours without the Marshal."

Mako solemnly nods. "We'll have made it eleven months from Pitfall on Christmas day," ze points out, "and 2026 will only be six days away."

"Ya know, Christmas might not be too bad," Chuck comments, though his voice is tight. (His voice seems to naturally tighten at the mention of his dad, who survived Pitfall only to die two days later in the med bay.) "It'll mean we've made it almost a year since Pitfall. Continues that whole We Won't Let This Kill Us thing, yeah?"

Raleigh nods.

"I think Yancy would be proud of you," Mako says.

"Do you really?"

"Yes." Ze presses a kiss to his forehead, and Chuck drowsily nods in his agreement. "I think he would be very proud of you."

* * *

"Ready?" Mako whispers the next day soon as Raleigh had left the house.

Chuck nods as he picks up his phone. "Ready to go to the store."

"Operation Christmas is a-go." Ze grins.

The pair leave the apartment complex, waving to the neighbors they pass on their way out, and then head down the street. The air is chilly and their breath hangs in the air. With Max plodding along next to him, his collar jingling and claws clicking against the pavement, and with Mako explaining what exactly they're going to do, he feels at peace. It's still a relatively new feeling to him because there never was any time for peace during the War, but now he finds himself more relaxed, less confrontational, with less anger and less reasons to be an ass.

"We're cuttin' it pretty close by gettin' our tree on Christmas Eve," he points out at a crosswalk.

"Yes, but we wanted to keep it a secret that we're celebrating Christmas and decorating as long as possible," ze replies. "Raleigh will be so happy to come home and see the tree."

Max barks, and Chuck laughs. Even Mako cracks a grin as they cross the street and make their way to the Christmas tree lot to make their selection from the slim picking of trees left. As he scans the lot, Chuck's face falls and it's almost comical, except Mako doesn't laugh because ze is too busy being shocked at the awful choices they have.

"They're all like that goddamn Charlie Brown tree!" he exclaims. "Fuck! We can't put this bullshit up for Raleigh!" 

"Chuck," ze says, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You need to calm down. I know you're a petty perfectionist, but we can find a tree, okay? We'll find a tree Raleigh will like. We can go to other yards. Do you want to do that?"

He nods, and Mako pulls him out of the yard, where people were starting to stare at the two of them, and towards a bus stop. Max, unaware his human had just created a scene, happily trots alongside them, panting and wagging his stumpy tail, overjoyed with all the sights and sounds and smells. While at the bus stop, the bulldog flops on his side in the snow, and Chuck smiles at his dog's antics despite the fact he's internally panicking because he's such a goddamn perfectionist and none of these trees are meeting his standards. Mako can tell he's panicking from the look in his eyes, and ze quietly sighs before pulling him and the dog up onto the next bus.

"Do we just go until we see a Christmas tree lot?" he asks as he takes a window seat, and then pulls Max up onto his lap.

Ze nods. "I think that will work."

"'s a bit late to be lookin' for a tree still," the man in the next row comments. "I hope you can still find a good one."

"Thank you," Mako replies. "All we've been able to find so far are-"

"-the lamest fucking trees I've seen in my entire life," Chuck interrupts.

"Chuck."

"What? It's true!"

"I know you're frustrated because you're an anal retentive perfectionist, but calm down a little. Pet Max or something."

Chuck sighs and rubs under Max's chin in just the right spot, and he knows it's the right spot by the way Max looks up at him. Of course, Max always looks at him with love, but it's amplified when the right spot is scratched. By the way the dog's tongue lolls and the way he narrows his eyes and the way his stumpy tail wags to quickly it's almost a blur, he's found the spot. While Chuck becomes absorbed in tending to his dog, Mako continues to talk to the friendly man.

"Yes, but as Chuck said, the trees we have found are very--" She pauses to think of the right word, a word more eloquently chosen than Chuck's. "--disappointing."

The man turns around to face who's speaking to, and then pauses when he sees them both.

"Oh, you're..."

"Yes," Mako says. "We're them."

Ze feels zir throat tightens; hopes the man doesn't mention anything about the war. Next to ze, Chuck stiffens and narrows his eyes ever so slightly. Today's been a good day and the last thing they need is someone mentioning the war. Of course, the war rests on their minds all the time, but vocalizing it is different. Thankfully, the man-- he introduces himself as Daryl-- doesn't mention the war at all. In fact, he seems just as determined as them to make this Christmas work.

"So, why'd you wait so late?" Daryl asks. "You're gonna have a hard time out there in the tree lots."

"Well, we didn't plan on celebrating Christmas at first," Mako begins, "and then we realized it's a big milestone. Also, we noticed Raleigh has seemed glum, especially when decorations started being put up a-"

"He's had, like, a dark cloud over his head all month and it's pretty goddamn depressing to see such a bouncy person like that," Chuck interrupts.

"-and I remembered from memories I saw in the Drift that his family was very excited about Christmas every year, but he hasn't celebrated it since Yancy died. Today, while he is running errands and at the library studying for one of his classes, we decorated the apartment and now we're getting the tree," she finishes.

"It's pretty much gonna be the best Christmas ever." Chuck sums it up simply and nicely and in a way that makes Daryl laugh.

"Well, I wish you both luck," he replies. "This is my stop, so I gotta go. There's a pretty big lot on the corner of Fifth and Simon. I dunno what they have left, but you might wanna check it. Merry Christmas!"

"Goodbye and Merry Christmas!" Mako calls after him.

"Merry Christmas!" Chuck echoes.

* * *

 

"This lot is pathetic," Chuck sighs at the tree lot on the corner of Fifth and Simon. "They're all Charlie Brown trees again."

"Maybe Raleigh would like a Charlie Brown tree," Mako replies. "He likes Peanuts."

Max wags his tail as he investigates each tree, sniffing at the bark, and then sneezing at the too-strong smell. One of his sneezes knocks the short, fat bulldog over and into a pile of snow.

"Jesus Christ, Max." Chuck scoops up his dog, and then jogs to catch up to Mako, who has moved on ahead and is on the prowl for the best tree.

Mako's face is cold and zir skin is burning against the sharp bite of the wind. The air feels heavy, as if it will snow again, perhaps very soon, and ze hopes that ze and Chuck won't get caught in it because they need to get home before Raleigh to put up the tree. Suddenly, ze stops in zir tracks and he, having not noticed, walks right into zir.

"Oh, sorry," he mumbles. "Ma-"

"I found it," ze breathes. "I found the tree."

"Really? Where?" There's no hiding the excitement in his voice.

Mako leads the way up a little hill and Chuck sure as hell hopes it's worth it because it's hard as hell to walk up a hill, let alone walk normally, in a jacket, two of Raleigh's sweaters, snow boots, and three pairs of socks. To go along, he is also wearing a scarf Raleigh knitted and mittens. Mako, on the other hand, wears boots, one jacket, gloves, and a scarf, and walks quickly. Max soaks in all the excitement from where he rests in Chuck's arms.

"Found it." Ze points to the tree directly in front of them.

Definitely the tallest in the lot, it's a broad tree, but it's not too big to fit in their apartment and it's not a Charlie Brown tree. Even the perfectionist anal retentive Aussie has to admit it's a damn good tree, or it's the best one anyone can hope to find on Christmas Eve.

"You've got a good eye."

Max barks.

* * *

 

By the time they get home with the tree and stand it up in the corner, it's dark and they have half an hour until the library closes, which means half an hour until Raleigh begins the fifteen minute drive home.

"We have forty-five minutes," ze says, sitting on the couch with a mug of hot chocolate.

Chuck nods before taking a sip of his own hot chocolate. "We should decorate the tree. We can sit around later."

Mako takes charge of the ornaments and lights because they require more delicacy than the tinsel, which Chuck haphazardly throws on the tree. Due to his methods, which Mako disapproves of-- and ze lets him know ze disapproves- he puts the little antlers back on Max and hangs their stockings.

"These look okay?" he asks.

Mako, the one with the most decorative sense of the three, nods. "Yes, they're a little crooked, but it's acceptable."

With a sigh, he flops down on the couch. "Thanks," he grumps.

"You're welcome." Ze smiles.

"I love you," he tries.

"I love you too."

After the last ornament is hung and the lights are turned on, Mako joins Chuck back on the couch, where they watch Christmas specials until Raleigh comes home. They're in the middle of laughing at the movie _Elf_ , when the door is pushed upon and a draft of cold, snowy air and Raleigh come lumbering in. The Alaskan is almost unaffected by the cold; he likes it even, and Chuck is horrified.

He hums as he walks in, carrying a stack of books, but he's halted in his steps when his gaze lands on the sight before him. Mako and Chuck are sitting together with hot chocolate and there's a third cup for him. Max is wearing little antlers. There are three stockings hung. And there's a Christmas tree with lights and ornaments and everything, and he makes a little noise in the back of his throat and Mako can tell he's about to cry, so she opens zir arms.

"Come here," ze calls.

Raleigh moves close, dropping on the couch so he's between them. Mako holds him close and runs a hand through his hair, while Chuck rubs little circles on his back. Max, worried by the crying, whines until he's lifted up onto the couch so he can get in on the hugs and lick at Raleigh's face. With the addition of Max, Raleigh's crying turns to laughing.

"So, um," Chuck mumbles, "does the crying mean you like it or...?"

Mako expectantly looks down at Raleigh, who's got his head resting on zir chest.

"Oh, I really like it." He sits up. "A lot. I like it a lot." He starts to cry again. "I'm sorry. I dunno why I'm crying, but I haven't done anything for Christmas since Yancy because he really loved Christmas and I miss him so much and this was his holiday, you know? He was always so big on getting things for other people even when we didn't have the money for it. He just loved giving people presents and you guys are so great."

By the end, he's bawling and Max is trying to lick at his face again. Mako pulls him close again, but not before asking if he was comfortable with being held.

"Oh, Raleigh..." ze quietly says.

He feels Chuck move on his other side, and then hears him ask, "Are you okay with spooning?"

"Y-yes, and thank you for- for asking," he mumbles.

He feels a sudden rush of appreciation for Chuck and Mako, not only for the Christmas decorations and tree, but because they ask when he wants to be touched and what's acceptable when. Because other people hadn't asked him that before. Because he used to assume no one would want to be with someone who never wanted sex and sometimes didn't even want to hold hands because touching is sometimes very uncomfortable. And he starts to cry a little more.

"Ray, you feelin' okay?" Chuck asked. "You're crying an awful lot over this."

He nods. "m fine. I just really like the tree."

"Really?" The excitement in Chuck's voice is almost childish.

"Yes, really."

"I'm glad you like it," Mako says. "Is a kiss alright."

He nods, and then Mako presses a light kiss to his cheek. 

With how warm it is and how exhausted he is, Raleigh falls asleep quickly, and then Mako and Chuck nod off as well. They fall asleep there in a little pile on the couch; Raleigh's head is on Mako and Mako's legs are on top of Chuck's and Chuck is spooning Raleigh. It's warm and safe and secure, and Raleigh, as he lies awake and watching his boyfriend and datefriend sleep-- he woke up first but didn't want to disturb them-- realizes would never trade it for anything. 

**Author's Note:**

> As you can tell, I'm trash for writing a Christmas fic before Thanksgiving.
> 
> Also, it's not explicitly mentioned in here that Raleigh is ace, Chuck is trans, and Mako is agender, but they are in this series and it will be more important in later works in it.
> 
> Happy holidays, everyone!


End file.
